IX:4 Anatha Pindika and the guardian spirit

Anatha Pindika was the donor of the Jetavana monastery. He was
not only generous but also truly devoted to the Buddha. He would go to the Jetavana
monastery and pay homage to the Enlightened One thrice daily. In the mornings he
would bring along rice gruel, in the daytime some suitable food, and in the evenings
some medicine and flowers. After some time Anatha Pindika became poor, but because
of his confidence in the Dhamma he was not shaken by poverty, and continued to do
his daily acts of charity. One night, a guardian spirit residing in his house appeared
before him in person, and said, 'I am the guardian spirit. You have been offering
your property to the Buddha with no thought for your future. That is why you are
a poor man today. Therefore, you should make no more offering to him and should look
after your own business affairs and get rich again.'

Anatha Pindika requested the guardian spirit to leave his house
for saying such things, and as he was highly developed spiritually the guardian spirit
could not disobey him and so had to leave the premises. He had nowhere to go and
wanted to return but was afraid of Anatha Pindika. So, he approached Sakka, king
of the devas. Sakka advised him first to do a good turn to Anatha Pindika,
and after that, to ask his pardon, Then Sakka continued, 'There are debts taken as
loans by some traders which are not yet repaid to Anatha Pindika, certain valuables
buried by the ancestors of Anatha Pindika, which have been washed away into the ocean,
some treasures which belong to no one, buried in a certain place. Go and recover
all this wealth and fill up the rooms of Anatha Pindika.' The guardian spirit did
as instructed by Sakka, and Anatha Pindika again became rich.

When the guardian spirit told Anatha Pindika what he had done for
him, permission was granted for the spirit to reside in his house. Then Anatha Pindika
took him to the Buddha. To both of them the Buddha said, 'One may not enjoy the benefits
of a good deed, or suffer the consequences of a bad deed for a long time, but the
time will surely come when good or bad deeds will bear fruit and ripen.'